Suns rally to beat BlueClaws

April 20, 2005

LAKEWOOD, N.J. - Dante Brinkley's three-run inside-the-park home run sparked the Hagerstown Suns to a 5-2 victory over the Lakewood BlueClaws at FirstEnergy Park on Tuesday.

The BlueClaws led 2-1 at the start of the eighth when the Suns' bats came alive against Lakewood starter Derek Griffith. Aaron Hathaway and Wilson Batista got back-to-back singles to start the rally. Brinkley hit a line drive that caromed off the fence in center field and cleared the bases.

RHP Rafael Cova (1-0) got the win with two innings of two run relief of RHP Jeff Landing who went the first five innings. Landing gave up six hits but held Lakewood (3-10) scoreless.

Kevin Mannix worked two innings for his first save, striking out six and walking one.

Batista and Brinkley had three hits each and Brad Harman went two-for-two as Hagerstown (10-3) ended a two-game losing streak.